


Son of a Grit

by Denois



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Accidental Divorce, Accidental Marriage, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, Getting Together, I cried four times writing this, M/M, Mythical Creature AU, accidentally married, eventually, gritty au, selkie!Dex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 10:52:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17445527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Dex knew it was a risk, attending college so far inland, sharing a room. There were a lot of risky things about choosing Samwell, when it was all said and done. He could have gone to Bryn Athyn or Neumann University, could have stayed with his Dad’s family and saved money, but they were only D3 schools. If he was going to have a chance at the NHL, he needed to go to a D1 school. Between scholarships and degree programs and the fact that Jack Zimmermann would be the captain his first year, Dex ended up at Samwell.But he’d made it work for two years.Then the damn coin landed in a crack in the floorboards.He was rooming with Derek Malik Nurse.





	Son of a Grit

**Author's Note:**

> First, Thank you to my wonderful Betas, [Lukutoukka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukutoukka) and [Kirani](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani).
> 
> Thank you to the 18+ Discord Server for encouraging me on this.
> 
> Thank you to [Lenny](https://nubs-mgee.tumblr.com/) for also being inspired by the idea and drawing the [most wonderful selkie!Dex art ever.](https://nubs-mgee.tumblr.com/post/182065908107/selkie-dex-furry-dex-in-my-honest-opinion-and)
> 
> And thank you to a post on [Shitty-Check-Please-AUs](https://shitty-check-please-aus.tumblr.com/) suggesting this in the first place.
> 
>  
> 
> Next, you need to know that in this fic, Selkies are born as Selkies, to a Selkie parent and a human. Selkie and Gritty genders and biology are *waggles hand* but Dex's dads both prefer he/him pronouns and are Dex's biological parents. His selkie dad is PopPop because it seems like a good underwater name.

Dex knew it was a risk, attending college so far inland, sharing a room. There were a lot of risky things about choosing Samwell, when it was all said and done. He could have gone to Bryn Athyn or Neumann University, could have stayed with his Dad’s family and saved money, but they were only D3 schools. If he was going to have a chance at the NHL, he needed to go to a D1 school. Between scholarships and degree programs and the fact that Jack Zimmermann would be the captain his first year, Dex ended up at Samwell.

Of course, his PopPop didn’t understand why he wanted to go to college, why he wanted to play in the NHL. But even though his PopPop came from a traditional family, he’d already broken from tradition by marrying Dex’s Dad. They seemed to have settled on the “support but worry” method of parenting in the end. 

But he’d made it work for two years. 

He managed single dorms. He kept his pelt in a bag on roadies. Sometimes he went for a swim in the Pond. It wasn’t the same as the ocean, but it was nice, peaceful. 

Then the damn coin landed in a crack in the floorboards. 

No dibsback. It was in the bylaws. He was rooming with Derek Malik Nurse. 

It should be fine. Nursey had no reason to mess with Dex’s stuff, ever. Dex snorted to himself as he shoved his pelt under the bottom bunk. Nursery didn’t even like him, he definitely wouldn’t go out of his way to trap Dex in a marriage. 

After all, the whole team had spoken at length about the importance of consent. Even if sometimes they seemed to be iffy on when consent stopped being possible when drinking.

It would be fine. Nursey was a decent guy, just annoying. He had everything he could ever need or want, including any datemate he desired. Still, his PopPop’s warnings rang in his ears.

Dex put a suitcase in front of the shaggy orange coat. 

* * *

Six weeks into rooming together, Dex was ready to pull his hair out. Or take off to the coast and just live with PopPop’s family forever. Not that they’d ever _really_ accept him, since he took after his Dad so much. But it had to be better than Samwell and living with Derek Nurse.

Dex would set the thermostat on an efficient and economical setting, well within the tolerable normal ranges for humans; Nursey would crank the air or the heat. Dex would tidy the room; Nursey would leave dirty clothes everywhere. Dex would try to focus on homework; Nursey would pester him with questions or play his music loudly. 

But the worst part was, Nursey seemed to have stopped trying to be his friend. It should have been fine. Dad and PopPop were estranged from their families because they chose to be together, and they were too different from the locals to really be accepted. So, Dex was used to solitude, to not having close friends. But he’d become fond of the friendly jabs and snarky comments. He’d felt like part of something when Nursey ruffled his hair. 

When he was in a Frog Pile, he was reminded that both gritties and selkies are social species that live in large communities and share physical affection easily. It felt good. Too good. He’d never gotten to have it before, and he knew he shouldn’t have gotten attached, because he had no people. Even the Frogs would leave him eventually. 

It’s just, he didn’t think Nursey would pull away before they’d even graduated. 

Then the unthinkable happened. Nursey cleaned their room. 

Dex was in class, but he felt something different and snuck out early. When he got to the Haus, Nursey was sitting on his bean bag chair, reading, nonchalant, as though everything was perfectly normal. Dex stared at him for a moment before dropping onto the floor and looking under the beds. He pulled out the suitcase to reveal…. nothing.

“Did-” Dex stopped and cleared his throat.”Did you move my orange coat?” 

He didn’t want to look at Nursey, afraid of what he might see, but he met his gaze and watched as Nursey’s beautiful mouth stretched into a smirk. 

“Coat? More like a fursuit. Seriously, Dexy, I’m just saving you from becoming a furry.” 

“You threw it out?”

“Of course not. I’m not an asshole. I just put it somewhere for safe keeping.”

And then he went back to reading. As though Dex didn’t feel like he’d been punched in the chest. As though Dex didn’t have a hole missing inside of him. As though they weren’t married now. 

Dex knew then why selkie wives and husbands don’t fight their spouses, even those that steal the pelts. There was no room for anger inside of him, only an ever deepening pit of sadness and longing for the sea. 

He left their room, and the Haus, walked unseeing to the edge of the Pond and stood, toes at the edge of the water. The pull was strong. 

He sat down and stared at the water.

Nursey didn’t think he was a poetry guy, thought the verses and couplets he quoted flew over Dex’s head. But Dex had been born the child of two mythological worlds, and poetry was in his blood as much as hockey and the sea. It just didn’t pay the bills. He’d always thought in metaphor, symbolism and imagery linking together in his thoughts with ease. 

Now, his thoughts were a jumble, rolling over each other and giving no room for him to grab them and make sense of them.

He put his head on his knees. 

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting like that before he felt a hand on his back. He didn’t look up and the hand was replaced with most of the weight of a goalie. He figured if anyone followed him, it’d be Chowder. 

“Do you want to talk about it? If not, we can just cuddle.”

Dex lifted his head and scrubbed at his eyes. “I just didn’t expect it from him, you know? My PopPop warned me. Said men especially shouldn’t be trusted. But, I mean, it’s Nursey, right? He’s a jerk sometimes but he’s not a complete ass.”

Chowder made some noises that could mean anything really. 

“And he was just so calm. And like he was doing me a favor. And, I mean, why couldn’t he just ask? I think I’d have said yes? If I’d known that’s what he wanted, I might have even offered? But he just, did it.” Dex sniffed a few times while Chowder made some more soothing noises. 

Dex let himself wallow a bit more, the weight of Chowder around him soothing a bit of the ache and loss. 

“Thanks Chris.”

“Of course, Dex. You’d do the same for me.” He unwrapped himself from around Dex and stood up, offering a hand to help Dex up as well. Once they were both standing, Dex pulled him in for a tight hug. 

“Anytime, anything you need.”

* * *

Nursey didn’t seem to expect things to change now that they were married. Dex had stared at the beds for over half an hour, wondering if he should climb up to Nursey’s bunk, or if Nursey even wanted that. Eventually, Nursey had turned off his lamp and grumbled down at him, “God, Dex. Just get in your bed and go to sleep.”

The next day was better, in some ways. The sadness curled tightly into a ball at the center of his chest and life went on. They had a roadie in Dartmouth followed by a game at home the following day. Nursey didn’t sit with him on the bus and they didn’t share a room. 

It was...confusing. And irritating. 

Why would Nursey force him into marriage and then just act like nothing happened? Was it really like he said, just to _save_ Dex from being furry? Dex fucking liked being a seal. Hell, he liked being a bright orange seal unlike anything else in the ocean. 

His irritation was reaching a peak at the end of the home game and he ended up snapping at Nursey. “You’re lucky you didn’t break your neck crashing the boards like that, Nursey.” 

Then, Nursey tried to climb the wall and managed to open the door. Because he was looking back at Dex. Everything moved in slow motion. He knew that was a cliche, but it felt true. He felt like he had all the time in the world to realize what was happening and to think of ways to stop it but no time at all to act on them. Then, Nursey was on the ground and his wrist was broken.

Things went downhill from there. 

Dex tried. He did. He tried to be a good husband. He brought Nursey pie. He handed Nursey his books when he was already in bed. He even cleaned the room, including washing all of Nursey’s clothes that had been left scattered around. 

Then they’d had a kegster. And Dex had rounded a corner to come face to face with Nursey making out with some guy from the rugby team. 

Dex had dropped his cup (it was almost empty anyway) and spun on his heels to leave the Haus. 

He didn’t know if Nursey hooked up with the guy. He probably could have found out. His senses were all better than humans and sex has a specific smell to it. But he didn’t think it would make a difference. So he purposely avoided finding out. 

He also avoided trying to be a good husband. What did it matter, anyway? He was just another thing that Derek Nurse had collected. 

It took another three weeks, a truly horrible incident with pie, and Dex building an enclosure around his bunk before Nursey divorced him. He did it with no preamble, just showed up one day while Dex was working on homework and handed the coat back to him. 

“Whatever, Poindexter. Be a furry.” Nursey didn’t even look at him, just flopped onto his bean bag. 

Dex opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to make the words come. But what could he say? Thanks for returning the coat that had been taken? Was Nursey trying to give him Free Will in the marriage all of a sudden? That didn’t make sense, Nursey’d never even acknowledged it. “Was this all just a game to you then?”

Nursey looked up from the book he’d pulled out and laughed. “Yeah. Of course. What else?”

The ball of sadness welled up and burst, replaced by a searing spring of anger. “Fuck you.”

Before he could do or say anything else, he forced himself out of the room and down stairs. 

“He wins! He defeated me! I’m moving into the basement. Into the darkness.”

Bitty and Ford barely looked over at his pronouncement and he continued out the door. He didn't stop until he was at the Pond again, this time shucking clothes and pulling on the coat so he could dive into the frigid water. 

It felt good to be a seal again. To be in the water. It wasn’t the ocean, but all water is connected. 

He wasn’t sure how long he swam, time seemed to move differently when he was a seal, but eventually he surfaced and spotted a figure sitting on the beach of the Pond. He swam closer to see who it was and was only slightly shocked to hear Chowder’s voice.

“Hey, Dex.”

Dex transformed back and quickly pulled his clothes back on. It wasn’t snowing yet, but it was still far too cold to be underdressed. Once he was sorted, he sat next to Chowder and bumped their shoulders together. 

“You don’t seem surprised.”

“We’ve got a lot of seals in San Francisco. Some of them aren’t always seals. If you’re nice to them, sometimes they talk.”

Of course, Chowder had looked at Dex and decided he was worth trying to befriend. Making friends with Pacific selkies would have been a breeze. 

“You’re really pretty. I’ve never seen a seal like that before.”

“My PopPop is a selkie, but my Dad isn’t human. Most selkies have one human parent.” Dex shrugged. 

“I see.” Chowder fell quiet and Dex wasn’t sure if he should speak. 

He was still angry, but it was more subdued. Even his irritability and grumpiness felt like they were returning to normal levels. 

“When did you know that I was, though?”

“Nursey told me the other day that he’d found a coat that you’d stashed under the bed, and that he’d hidden it as a joke. He said he kept expecting you to tear the Haus apart looking for it, but you just left the Haus and started acting weird. I remembered the last time we talked out here. It fit.”

Dex nodded. “You’re smart. Dangerous.”

“Not to my friends.” Chowder’s smile was very reminiscent of his beloved sharks and Dex fought not to flinch. 

“Good thing I’m your friend, huh?”

“I told Nursey he couldn’t just steal your coat. That it wasn’t a funny joke. That there could be cultural significance.”

Dex heaved a sigh. “Figures. Married and divorced in the span of a few weeks and he doesn’t even realize.” He laughed, short and sharp like a seal bark. “You know, I thought he’d actually done it on purpose? Because he wanted me?” 

He didn’t realize he was crying until Chowder pulled him down, burying Dex’s face in a teal hoodie and running fingers through his hair.

* * *

The Pond was frozen over, so he had nowhere to swim, but his coat was nice and warm down in his basement bungalow, so he wore it often while studying for finals. 

Unfortunately, that meant he was wearing it when his door opened unexpectedly and he fell over backwards in his desk chair. Which would have been fine, except the lurch also made him panic and activate the coat. Meaning when he looked up at Nursey’s shocked face, it was with seal eyes. 

He shifted back and rolled over and up to his feet. “Seriously, bro. You gotta learn to knock.”

“Were you just a….” Nursey trailed off.

“A bright orange seal? Yes.” Dex righted his chair and offered it to Nursey who sunk into it slowly.

“Chill.”

Dex rolled his eyes. “Did you need something?”

“Why were you a seal just now? Why were you an _orange_ seal just now?”

“Well, my Dad is a gritty, so, that’s why the orange.”

“You dad? Ok. I met him on family weekend. He yelled at me that consent was mandatory while you pushed him down the hall. Kinda racist. I understand why you didn’t want to introduce us now.” Nursey nodded, like things matching up with something he could make sense of was the best thing in the world.

“Uh, actually, that was my PopPop. He’s the reason I was a seal. He’s a selkie. So am I. He’s not racist, or at least anymore than baseline average, I guess. I’m not really sure if selkies have institutional racism. I’ve never really spent time with any others.” 

“So the yelling about consent?”

“I might have mentioned you taking my coat. Maybe by name.”

“Chill. Your coat?” Nursey’s eyes widened comically. “Wait, that’s your selkie coat? Chill. Chowder knows you’re a selkie?”

“He figured it out, yeah. Apparently he’s met some before in Cali.”

“Wait, doesn’t that mean we’re married?”

“Divorced. You gave it back. Or annulled maybe. We never consummated it, after all. Again, I’m not real up to date on selkie laws. PopPop left them to marry Dad.”

Nursey nearly fell out of the chair and Dex had to reach out and grab him to keep him from falling over.

“We were married. It could have been consummated.” It was barely a whisper, but Dex’s hearing was excellent. 

Dex felt his cheeks burn. “Of course it couldn’t. Like PopPop said, consent is key. You? With me?” Dex snorted and turned to look at his bookshelf. “Besides, you were otherwise occupied. Nathan’s a great guy.”

“Chill. I mean. He is, but I don’t understand what that has to do with anything.”

“Oh. I don’t know who else you’ve been wheeling. I kinda stopped going to kegsters. But I’m sure they’re all great guys. Or girls. Or enbies.” Dex shrugged a shoulder and pulled a book from his shelf. 

Nursey laughed and Dex stopped pretending to be perusing a book about… shit, corporate taxation and looked over at him. “I didn’t wheel Nathan Peterson. Or anyone. I haven’t since-“ he paused and looked at the ceiling for a few moments, “last January, I guess.”

Dex snapped the book shut. It didn’t make a very satisfying sound because it was too thick and heavy to do effectively. “I stopped going to kegsters after the one where the two of you made out. Hooked up. Whatever.”

“Poindexter, Dexy, Dex. Have you been jealous?”

Dex swallowed. “Of course not. You didn’t know we were married. It would be stupid for me to expect you to run relationships past me. I just, thought you did know, at the time.”

“Oh. Damn.”

“So anyway, that’s when I realized that none of it really meant anything. So, I guess if you want to chirp me for thinking you wanted to marry me for a whole week, then get it over with. I do need to study.” He turned and looked at Nursey.

Instead of the amusement that he expected to see, Nursey’s face was serious as he stood up and walked slowly towards Dex. “I remember that night. Because that’s the night I thought, ‘Come on, Derek, crushing on your straight roommate is all kinds of fucked up.’ And I thought maybe kissing Nathan would help me get over it. It didn’t help.”

By the time he stopped talking, Nursey was right in front of Dex.

“I’m not straight.”

Nursey nodded and lifted a hand to Dex’s jaw. “How do you feel about kissing?”

Dex licked his lips. “In favor.”

Then Nursey’s mouth was on his and Dex knew that he would offer him his coat one day.

**Author's Note:**

> HMU on Tumbls at [SexyDexyNurse](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/) or comment below if you want to talk about this fic.
> 
>  
> 
> Short Epilogue that doesn't really fit into a narrative style.  
> Dex gets signed by Philly late in the spring his senior year, 2018. That fall, the Flyers debut their new mascot, Gritty. 
> 
> Dex is super embarrassed that his Dad got a job at the same place as him.
> 
> Of course, like most Dads, Dex's Dad tries to embarrass him. 
> 
> “Dad, stop flirting with Claude or I’m telling PopPop!”  
> “OMG Dad, he is my teammate. My coworker. No you can’t ask him to be in a polya relationship with you and PopPop.”


End file.
